Quick connectors for pipe lines are well-known in the art, and, commonly are employed for connecting lengths of horticultural flexible plastic hose to one another.
Additionally, numerous devices have been prior proposed that are received in clamping engagement with the ends of un-grooved or plain-ended pipe, such devices commonly employing band clamps which are employed to compress a sleeve of a resilient material, such as rubber, into frictional gripping and sealing relation with the outer surface of plain-ended pipe.
Such installations are, relatively weak and insubstantial, in that they rely exclusively on the frictional gripping of the pipes by the connecting sleeve, and, are subject to separation and water loss in the event that one of the pipes is angled relative to the other, or, is subjected to a tensile stress. Typical of such clamp-type connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,586,354 to Boscacci, and 5,193,859 to McKinnon.
More substantial types of connectors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,980,143 to Harris, 4,146,252 to Bunda and 4,630,647 to Thompson, each of which is cumbersome and laborious to assemble, and each of which requires a wrench or other tool for its assembly.